The Politics of Psychoanalysis: An Introduction to Freudian and Post-Freudian Theory

by Stephen Frosh

Since its first publication in 1987, The Politics of Psychoanalysis has been widely recognized as one of the best introductions to psychoanalytic theory and its relevance to social relations and politics. For this second edition, the book has been thoroughly revised to take into account the many developments in critical psychoanalysis which have occurred during the past decade.

The author has provided updated accounts of the theories covered in the first edition, plus new material on contemporary feminist psychoanalytic work and on the engagement of psychoanalysis with postmodernism. The result is a book that combines a lucid introduction to psychoanalytic theory with a critical examination of the value of psychoanalysis for therapeutic and social practice.

Genres: Philosophy, Psychological, Psychology

1 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1987

About the author

Stephen Frosh has worked at Birkbeck from 1979, first in the School of Psychology and since 2008 in the Department of Psychosocial Studies, of which he was a founding member and first Head of Department. From 1982 until 2000 he worked part time at Birkbeck and part time as a clinical psychologist in the NHS. Throughout the 1990s he was Consultant Clinical Psychologist and (from 1996) Vice Dean in the Child and Family Department of the Tavistock Clinic, London. His academic interests are in the applications of psychoanalysis to social issues; gender, culture and ‘race’; and psychosocial studies. He was Pro-Vice-Master of Birkbeck from 2003 to 2017, first with responsibility for Learning and Teaching, then for Research and then for Internationalisation